US to boost Bangladesh trade

US: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Tuesday to work to boost US trade with Bangladesh, calling the nation a model as a democratic and secular-minded Muslim-majority nation.

Meeting with her Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni, Clinton said the two nations would look at the possibility of a trade and investment framework to make it easier for US companies to expand in the South Asian nation.

“The United States stands ready to work with Bangladesh. And we will work to enhance economic opportunities,” Clinton told a joint news conference. Clinton hailed December’s election — in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won the latest rematch against arch-foe Khaleda Zia — as “the freest and fairest in the country’s history.”

“Bangladeshis now have the opportunity to build on this success,” Clinton said.

Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League is strongly critical of radical Islam. Washington, Thursday, AFP